Ashwin Michaelraj

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Ashwin Michaelraj
Ashwin Michaelraj

Contents

[edit] WORK EXPERIENCE

  • Clemson University, SC, USA - August 2007 to May 2009.
    • Graduate Research Assistant
      • Design, and development of concepts for automotive components/products (ProE Wildfire).
      • Finite element analysis using Ansys and Abaqus.
      • Prototyping, and Testing
      • Documenting the findings, and presenting them to research committee
  • Carborundum Universal Limited, Chennai, India - December 2005 to May 2006
    • Project Trainee (Production)
      • Overseeing production in an abrasive disc manufacturing plant
      • Other duties involved, production planning, supervision and logistics
  • Southern Petro Chemical Corporation Limited, Tuticorin, India- May, 2003 (Two week Summer Internship)
    • Industrial Trainee
      • Studied the process flow of a fertilizer manufacturing facility
      • Submitted a detailed report on the process flow and proposed modifications to improve efficiency

[edit] EDUCATION

  • Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Specialization - Engineering Design), Clemson University, USA, Jan 2007 – May 2009. GPA - 3.42/4.
  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, India, Aug 2001 – Apr 2005.

[edit] INDUSTRY SPONSORED RESEARCH PROJECTS

  • Identification of Advanced Meta-materials for Tweel, January 2008 - May 2009.
    • Sponsored by Michelin-North America and NIST
    • Benchmarking of existing concepts for Tweel®
    • Brainstorming and generation of new concepts for Michelin Tweel®
    • Generation of mechanical component, and assembly drawings using ProE Wildfire
    • Nonlinear viscoelastic FEA simulation using Abaqus and Ansys
    • Prototyping, and testing of generated concepts for Tweel®
    • Design and fabrication of test fixtures for shear testing
    • Procurement and fabrication of Meta-materials for shear testing
  • Light Integration, August 2007 – December 2007.
    • Sponsored by BMW, USA
    • Involved in functional integration of BMW X5 light assembly
    • Generated a conceptual solution for integrating light assembly with vehicle body
    • Structural analysis of the proposed concept using Ansys 11.0
    • Participated in design reviews and feasibility study
  • LED Headlamp design, August 2007 – December 2007.
    • Sponsored by BMW, USA
    • Proposed an innovative concept of using Metal Foams for passive cooling of LED
    • Feasibility analysis on utilizing Metal Foams for passive cooling of LED using Matlab
    • Embodiment design of Metal Foam passive cooling system using ProE Wildfire

[edit] ACADEMIC PROJECTS

  • Design of nose landing gear for an UAV---Senior Design Project---Design Coach/Mentor---August to December, 2007
    • Sponsored by Raytheon, USA
    • Mentored a group of 5 senior mechanical engineering students to conduct design in a structured approach
    • Introduced students to Finite Element Analysis using Ansys to validate structural integrity of their design
  • Redesign of a paper shredder---Design for Assembly Project---Designer (ProE Wildfire)---January to April, 2007
    • Part of Design for Manufacturing (ME655) coursework at Clemson University
    • Using Design For Assembly (DFA) principles, redesigned a paper shredder to enable easier assembly
  • Redesign of a car seat backrest---Design for Manufacturing Project---Designer (ProE Wildfire)---January to April, 2007
    • Part of Design for Manufacturing (ME655) coursework at Clemson University
    • Using Corrado Poli’s Design For Manufacturing (DFM) principles, redesigned a backrest to improve manufacturability
  • Re-engineering of a Black & Decker screw driver---Re-engineering Project---Designer (ProE Wildfire)---January to April, 2007
    • Part of Design for Manufacturing (ME655) coursework at Clemson University
    • Learned to conduct re-engineering a screw driver in a structured approach
    • Developed a database containing of geometrical information about the components of the screw driver

[edit] THESIS

  • Prototype Taxonomy - Structure and Validation

Abstract

This thesis introduces a taxonomy of physical prototypes, and validates the proposed taxonomy by five different approaches. The proposed taxonomy is validated by, (i) checking the orthogonality of individual elements of the taxonomy, (ii) benchmarking the taxonomy with existing classifications of prototypes, (iii) demonstrating its utility by applying it to classify different prototypes, (iv) building a prototype database containing 35 different prototypes, and (v) consistency evaluation of the prototype database using a description logic based software called Protégé.

The results indicate that the proposed taxonomy is capable of distinguishing prototypes with greater accuracy when compared to existing classifications. The orthogonality of the proposed taxonomy is satisfactory, allowing for more consistent delineation between prototypes. Furthermore, the utility of the taxonomy to classify prototypes, and the building of prototype database demonstrates the flexibility of the proposed taxonomy to classify wide gamut of prototypes.

Implementation of prototype database into Description Logic (DL) based ontology revealed the definitions for each prototype class is consistent. This demonstrates the ability of the proposed taxonomy to differentiate distinct prototypes. In addition to the consistency evaluation, Protégé is used to generate the automatic class hierarchy of 35 prototypes, which classifies prototypes based on user defined classes. Finally, the DL implementation of the proposed taxonomy and the prototype database provides scope for future research to develop design tools that can aid designers in identifying prototypes necessary for a specific design scenario.

[edit] PUBLICATIONS

  • Teegavarapu, S., Shankar, P., Morkos, B., Kanda, A., Michaelraj, A., Summers, J., and Obieglo, A., (2009), "A Morphological, combinatory tool for design of low-gap automotive body panels", SAE 2009, SAE 09IDM-0044.
  • Morkos, B., Shankar, P., Teegavarapu, S., Kanda, A., Michaelraj, A., Summers, J., and Obieglo, A., (2009),"Conceptual Development and Analysis of Automotive Forward Lighting Light Emitting Diode System for Mass Reduction", SAE 2009, SAE 09IDM-0042.
  • Michaelraj, A., Hannah, R., Summers, J., (2008), “A Proposed Taxonomy for Physical Prototypes: Structure and Validation”, ASME-DETC2008, DAC-49976.

[edit] COURSES TAKEN

  • ME 870 - Design Methodologies
  • ME 655 - Design for Manufacturing
  • ME 653 - Dynamics of Vehicles
  • ME 818 - Introduction To Finite Element Analysis
  • ME 893 - Design Coaching
  • ME 861 - Material Selection in Engineering Design
  • EXST 801 - Experimental Statistics
  • AuE 893 - Vehicle Development Process

[edit] CERTIFICATE COURSES

[edit] COMPUTER LITERACY

  • CAD/CAM
    • ProE Wildfire (3+ Yrs)
    • ANSYS (3+ Yrs)
    • ANSYS Workbench (1+ Yr)
    • ABAQUS (1+ Yr)
    • AutoCAD (1 Yr)
    • SolidWorks (<1 Yr)
  • Packages
    • MS-Office Suite (5+ Yrs)
    • Adobe Photoshop (1+ Yr)
    • Adobe Illustrator (<1 Yr)
    • Ramco VirtualWorks ERP (<1 Yr)
  • Programming
    • Matlab (5+ Yrs)
    • Maple (1+ Yr)
    • C (1+ Yr)
    • C++ (1+ Yr)

[edit] EXTERNAL LINKS

Retrieved from "http://www.clemson.edu/ces/cedar/Ashwin_Michaelraj"
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